Brussels, 23/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Following the proposals of European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, the European Commission voted for allocating EUR 8.35 million to help Turkey fight against the spread of the avian flu virus. This emergency aid was taken from the 2006 pre-accession programme funds for the country. This programme, financed by Turkey to the tune of EUR 2.05 million by Turkey includes the purchase of laboratory equipment, rapid test kits and safety gear “to strengthen animal disease surveillance…and early response capacity” in Turkey, explained the Commission. The programme includes training and simulation exercise to improve disease control and eradication activities to be carried out by the Turkish veterinary services. Since the end of December 2005 Turkey has recorded 21 cases of persons infected by the H5N1 virus, four of whom have died. These are the first human victims of the disease outside of South East Asia and China. All the people infected, the majority being children or adolescents, were contaminated through direct contact with the sick birds.